For
most of the nearly two dozen cottage owners inMercoal,
the coal-mining ghost town will always be their true home.

The
80-year-old community, located just outside the eastern front ranges of
the Rocky Mountains near Jasper National Park, was considered one of the
industrial jewels of Alberta's historic Coal Branch. But since the mine
and town closed in 1959, Mercoal has been a cottage community, comprised
mostly of residents or family members of the pioneer coal mining days.

Gary
Conger was born in Mercoal more than 62 years ago, and uses his original family
residence in the ghost town as a cottage.

“Mercoal
to me means home, and has been for over 60 years,” says cottager Gary Conger,
who owns a permanent residence in nearby Robb. “We spend July and August up
here continually, and in the fall we use it as a hunting cabin while we cross-country
ski and snowmobile in the winter.”

When
the first mine opened in Mercoal in 1920, its coal was known for its high
quality suitable for the railway and industrial operations. The town boomed
after a corporate takeover and expansion in 1941 and its population eventually
swelled to more than 1,000 residents. The community had all the necessary
amenities, including hotel, hospital, stores and many services for residents
in Mercoal and throughout the Coal Branch. By 1950, however, many Coal
Branch mines and communities, including Cadomin,
Mountain Park, Coal Valley and Sterco, began to cease operations
and close.

Scores
of miners and their families headed to Mercoal for work, often transporting
their houses with them as the town faced a chronic housing crunch. But with
diesel fuel quickly entering and taking over the railway market, Mercoal’s days
were also numbered and the mine and town closed in 1959.

Photo
courtesy of Anne and Bruce Vincent.

Mercoal's
townsite (left) and minesite (right) taken from the air in the 1940's. Today,
the minesite has been almost completely leveled while there are only a few cottages
scattered across the townsite.

Photo
courtesy of Anne and
Bruce Vincent.

An
even wider shot of Mercoal's townsite and minesite taken from the air in the
1940's. Note the large white building in the lower centre-right of picture:
the gas station. Today there is only a fading foundation.

Photo courtesy of Anne and Bruce Vincent.

Downtown
Mercoal in the 1940's. Today there is nothing left of the town's business centre.

Photo
courtesy of Anne and Bruce Vincent.

Most miners and their families left. The mine and town were quickly dismantled.
But a few stubbornly held on, ultimately convincing the provincial government
to grant them leases to stay as seasonal residents.

Mercoal
1940: A closer look at the Mercoal Mine operation in the 1940's.

Gary
Conger’s cottage is the former town hardware store, originally a three-room
shack but now expanded and renovated through years of loving care. Conger and
his fellow residents are still proud of their community, and enjoy giving visitors
and tourists a tour of Mercoal. With
the exception of several pioneer homes, now renovated for seasonal use, little
remains to remind visitors of Mercoal’s pioneer coal-mining days.